News

Good yields, dry crops in central South Dakota

A central South Dakota farmer says corn and soybean harvest are moving quickly and the crops have yielded well. 

But Chuck Todd in Sully County tells Brownfield corn and soybeans have come out of the field very dry.

“Soybeans were a little hard to harvest and they dried very early. The corn looks super, but it’s very dry at 10 to 11% moisture corn. I’ve never harvested corn that dry before.”

He says the drier crops give away some weight and can be a deduction at the grain elevator.

In the latest crop report, USDA says South Dakota’s soybean harvest is 77% complete and corn harvest is 33% complete.

Todd says his soybean harvest is complete and there’s at least another week of corn harvest before tackling sorghum and sunflower harvest.

“A lot of the plants are green and I’m sure the seeds are very dry. I’m sure we’re looking at below 10% moisture, even though plants are green.”

USDA says South Dakota’s sorghum harvest is more than halfway complete and sunflower harvest is 15% complete. Winter wheat is mostly planted with less than half of the crop emerged, below average for this time of the year.